Rate Lock Advisory

Thursday, February 21th

Thursday’s bond market has opened in negative territory despite a batch of favorable economic news. The major stock indexes are showing moderate losses, pushing the Dow lower by 64 points and the Nasdaq down by 23 points. The bond market is currently down 12/32 (2.69%), which should push this morning’s mortgage rates higher by approximately .125 - .250 of a discount point.

12/32

Bonds

30 yr - 2.69%

64

Dow

25,890

23

NASDAQ

7,465

Mortgage Rate Trend

Trailing 90 Days - National Average

30 Year Fixed

15 Year Fixed

5/1 ARM

Indexes Affecting Rate Lock

Medium

Positive

Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) Minutes

Yesterday afternoon’s release of the minutes from January’s FOMC meeting gave us some interesting bits of information. First, it appears Fed members are divided on whether more hikes are needed to key short-term interest rates this year. It wasn’t too long ago that the consensus was 3 increases in 2019. They also indicated that their balance sheet reduction plan may be adjusted or even stopped later this year, compared to the original plan of 2023. The current plan allows for up to $50 billion of assets to fall off their balance sheet monthly without reinvesting the proceeds. Just the idea that the Fed may be considering slowing that roll off is good news for bonds and mortgage rates because it signals there is some worry about future economic growth. However, the minor reaction bonds did have to the release late yesterday was negative.

High

Unknown

Durable Goods Orders

The first of this morning’s economic news was December’s Durable Goods Orders at 8:30 AM ET. It revealed a 1.2% rise in new orders for big-ticket products such as airplanes, appliances and electronics, nearly matching the 1.3% that was forecasted. A secondary reading that excludes more volatile and costly transportation orders (airplanes) showed a 0.1% rise when analysts were expecting a 0.2% increase. Both readings are weaker than expectations, but the minor variance prevents us from calling the report overwhelmingly favorable for mortgage pricing.

Low

Negative

Weekly Unemployment Claims (every Thursday)

Also at 8:30 AM ET was last week’s unemployment update. The figures showed that 216,000 new claims for unemployment benefits were filed last week, down from the previous week’s 239,000 initial filings. Forecasts were calling for 225,000 initial claims. Since falling claims is a sign of employment sector strength, this data is considered bad news for mortgage rates. That said, it is only a weekly snapshot of the sector and has had a minimal impact on today’s rates.

Medium

Positive

Existing Home Sales from National Assoc of Realtors

January's Existing Home Sales was posted at 10:00 AM ET. The National Association of Realtors announced a 1.2% decline in home resales, indicating softness in the housing sector. Analysts were expecting to see a small increase in sales. Therefore, we should consider the data favorable for mortgage rates as it hints at economic weakness.

Low

Positive

Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) from the Conference Board

The final monthly report of the week was January's Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) that came in with a 0.1% decline, falling short of the 0.1% increase that was predicted. This index predicts economic activity over the next three to six months, meaning it is predicting slower growth in the near future. Again, this is favorable news for bonds and the mortgage market. We just haven’t seen the reaction that we would expect.

Medium

Unknown

Fed Talk

There is little scheduled tomorrow with exception to a handful of Fed speaking engagements throughout the day. These have the potential to affect the markets and mortgage rates but often go by without much fanfare. Being that there is no relevant economic data scheduled, it is more likely that one of these may become the focus of the day’s trading. It is impossible to predict what each speaker will say, so we wait and see if they give us any surprises. It is worth noting though that there is little chance that their words will cause a significant swing in the markets or large changes to mortgage pricing.

Float / Lock Recommendation

If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would.... Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days... Lock if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days... Float if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days... Float if my closing was taking place over 60 days from now... This is only my opinion of what I would do if I were financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers.